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Quitting my job, what about my vacation hours?

Been kind of slack at work lately and I get the feeling my days are numbered so I've decided to leave on my own accord so I don't burn any bridges and they are able to find a replacement for my shifts. I work at a retail store for about a year and a half and have racked up 30 hours of vacation which i never used.

Now I am guessing if I call it quit (or fired) those hours go down the drain, thats almost a weeks worth of pay so I don't really want to waste it. Would I be able to put in my two weeks and at the same time use my vacation hours? Would that be the right thing to do?

Thanks also another question I have that maybe could be answered, on my check stub above my available vacation hours it says "PH Available: #" I'm guessing this means 'paid hours available.' Does this mean I have hours they can't verify I have yet because I missed punching into work/ending work, etc?

They have to pay you any vacation days you've accrued, so you'll just get a larger paycheque for your last one.

I was under the impression that this was just policy at some companies, not necessarily mandated by law or anything. I've heard of ppl's accrued PTO going down the drain. You might very well be right, I'm just asking before we go presuming.

They don't really have to do anything. Most companies will pay out your accrued PTO when you leave, but they are under no requirment to do so, especially if you're fired or don't give 2 weeks notice. That said, check your employee handbook, it's probably in there somewhere.

Edit: beat'd by 2 minutes. I state mine with some certainty though, if that helps.

Edit again - this could well varry state by state. My certainty is crumbling.

When I resigned from a grocery store after three years, I had a considerable amount of sick days and vacation built up. For my last check, the paid me out in full or those hours, and I left with quite a big chunk of money. It was nice having as I looked for a new job.

RNEMESiS42 on May 2008

my apartment looks upside down from there
water spirals the wrong way out the sink

I have a friend in a situation who doesn't get paid for his vacation hours, so he's going to put in his 2 weeks and use all his vacation days and not go in for those 2 weeks.

That's fine as long as the employer approves of it, that's known as "terminal leave". Just make sure it's going to be kosher with your job, you don't want to leave a job you worked at for a year and a half without being able to get a good recommendation from them.

Up here in Canada, an employer is required to pay out any unreceived vacation time. It's usually a percentage of your total earnings (around 4-5%) unless there is another formula adopted by the company.

About two weeks after I quit my job (after giving adequate two week notice) I recieved all my vacation hours.

It is a very nice thing to find in your mail. Free money, provided your place of employment isn't dickish about it. I can imagine leaving on bad terms might hinder it.. but if you don't receive it after 30 days, I think you might want to contact them or perhaps a corporate office if one exists.

EDIT: And from what I understand, they have to pay you for your vacation time BY LAW (at least in Massachusetts). This is from word of mouth and I have no documentation to back this up, so perhaps someone can inform us otherwise.

Yeah that's what it says on my check stub, maybe they don't give vacation hours during the first 3 months (it's been so long i forgot what they called it, but i didn't have benefits). I was eligible for benefits near the end of january, so maybe it's only been a year and 3 months.

Which is practically a year and a half, I'm guessing they deleted my vacation hours for last year since i didn't use them.

Whether he can collect unpaid vacation time upon termination depends on what state the OP is in, whether he would be considered an at-will or contractual employee (I'm guessing the former over the latter), what it states in the company's employee handbook, whether he made the proper request in a timely fashion AND if he did and/or did not sign away his rights to collect unpaid vacation time for some other benefit.

In other words, we need more info my man.

EDIT: might want to check to see if your vacation time is specified in the handbook to have an expiration date as well.

It really does vary state by state. Here in NY your employer is required to pay you all of your accrued vacation time no later than your final scheduled paycheck, UNLESS the employer has a specific WRITTEN policy that you've signed off on (e.g. company handbook, etc...) that states otherwise.

It's worth googling around for your states department of labor website and seeing what they have to say on the matter.

sinn on May 2008

He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.

Does your store's company have an HR group? I imagine a simple phone call or website check could clear this up right quick. I've never heard of a company simply dropping vacation hours without paying them out... but I work for/have friends who work for large companies (thousands of employees), which tends to ensure a strong HR framework.

MurphysParadox on May 2008

Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.
Murphy's Paradox: The more you plan, the more that can go wrong. The less you plan, the less likely your plan will succeed.